The book is beautifully put together. Tons of pictures on high-gloss paper make this a feast for the eyes. The articles are of varying quality. Peppered between the yearbook and scrapbook looking sections -- usually put together using notes, pictures and art created by the band - are some of the best interviews of the band in the last 10 years (particularly the round table discussions which, in light of Jason Newsted's departure, are quite revealing). There are even glimpses of James Hetfield's struggle with his demons before going into rehab, that in hindsight should have been pretty obvious to everyone. Weak are the Q&A sections (the band never seems to give straight answers), a lack of great detail in events in the pre-Load era (understandable as these items are pulled from the fanclub magazine started in the mid-'90s), and Lars Ulrich making love to his ego (haters like to say how much the band has changed, but Lars and his ego have remained pretty consistent over the years, if you ask me).

Complaints are relatively minor. Metallica fans that have been members of the Metclub since it's inception will pretty much have all the items in here already (from So What!, the fanclub magazine). The magazines don't look nearly as good as the book though, but it may not be reason enough to buy this for some. At times, the self-indulgence can get a mite irritating, but the honesty and candidness makes up for a lot. The band at times seems more relaxed and sincere in some of the interviews, more so than they have for industry magazines and the press, although any fan with an axe to grind will find plenty of fuel to feed their accusations that the band has sold out, only cares about money and have sucked since (fill in the blank). Those who don't will find quite a lot of revealing details on what makes their favourite band tick - even if one has to be read between the lines sometimes.

As we're not likely to see any autobiographies from the band anytime soon, So What! is the only source for words straight from the horse's mouth and something that fans won't be able to resist.

9 of 10 found the following review helpful:

high quality book for a high quality band. . .  Aug 24, 2004
By P. Hall "Price"
I bought the book today by default because the mighty Metallica has always been my favorite band. But to my suprise this book was truly an awesome glimpse into the last 15 years of the greatest rock band of our time. buy buy buy it now or else!

10 of 12 found the following review helpful:

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY MET!!!!!  Sep 07, 2004
By Anthony J Sasso
290 pages of personal Metallistuff. Everything from never before seen introspective interviews, to amusing one-offs and doodles by some of the greatest heavy metal rockers of our time. Personal photos, letters, and some extensive QandA with fans, all collected here in this impressive hardcover volume. And when I say tons of photos, I mean TONS of photos. You get to see the boys in pics spanning all over their 20+ year history. Good stuff, with some truly excellent and even moving moments. Metallica has blazed a trail against the grain for over two decades now. From inventing thrash, to consistently giving everyone and everything a big F*** Y** and doing things their own way. Here in this book we get a broad view of our Metallicats, up close and personal. Not to be missed. -- Is it an awesome book??? - James would say, "Yeah Yeah!!"

Book  Feb 08, 2008
By Analilia Sanchez "professional shopper"
I expected the book to have wrote of a story, but so far so good.

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